al-monitor  — The politics of the Middle East are undergoing rapid changes, as demonstrated by recent developments in Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies. These shifts will undoubtedly impact the regional and foreign policies of Turkey’s neighbors, in particular those of Iran. For Tehran, the two primary factors are Turkey’s decision to redefine its ties with Israel and Russia and the …

PayvandNews – Iranian students won two gold and two silver medals in the 28th International Olympiad in Informatics, standing in the third position. Ali Behjati and Arash Mahmoudian-Bidgoli won gold and Amir-Mohammad-Dehghan and Parsa Mir-Taheri grabbed silver medals in the competition held in Russia. 81 countries took part in the Olympiad. The US and China respectively came first and second …

PayvandNews – Three Iranian movies have been enlisted in the 21st century’s top three movies, BBC reported. The list has been prepared by views of 177 film critics around the world. A Separation | Ten | Certified Copy From these 177 critics from 46 countries of the world, the film “Mulholland Drive,” directed by David Lynch in 2000 occupied the …

VOA – Four Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels sped close to a U.S. guided missile destroyer in international waters Tuesday in an “unsafe and unprofessional” encounter, the U.S. Navy said Wednesday. The USS Nitze Guided Missile Destroyer The USS Nitze fired 10 warning flares and blew its whistles at the Iranian vessels but got no response. The four boats came within …

Al-monior – In the campaigning leading up to Iran’s 2013 presidential vote, among the most important promises of Hassan Rouhani were those on cultural issues. After winning the election, Rouhani named Ali Jannati as his minister of culture and Islamic guidance to fulfill his promises. However, since day one, Jannati, who is a moderate son of ultra-conservative Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, …

RFL/RE – The death of a 12-year-old Afghan girl in Iran has prompted that country’s health minister to publicly defend a national ban on organ transplants for foreigners that some were initially blaming for the tragedy. Latifeh Rahmani died last week at a hospital in Shiraz, where she had reportedly been hospitalized for liver problems resulting from a genetic disorder, …

lobelog – In the Wall Street Journal last weekend, the paper’s chief foreign affairs reporter, Jay Solomon, unloaded a 2,500-word essay looking back at the Iran nuclear deal a little more than year after the accord was signed. Solomon, a measured and well-sourced reporter, examined how the deal had, after this short period of time, affected Iranian politics. The piece …

PayvandNews – Just one week after Russian bombers began flying missions over Syria out of an Iranian air base in Hamadan, Tehran has revoked its permission for Moscow to use the base. These missions never would have begun if Tehran had not agreed that they could take place. But Russia’s public declaration that they were occurring had a negative impact …

RFL/RE – Critics say proposed new legislation in Iran would mean an end to any form of independent journalism in the Islamic republic while playing into the hands of the country’s security organs and hard-line conservative judiciary, who would like to see even tighter state control of the media. cartoon by Ali Miraei, Iranian daily Ghanoon Journalists in Iran are sounding …

IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS –  Five prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas (southern Iran), reported the official news website of the Iranian Judiciary. The prisoners who were identified as “H. Gh.”, “M. A.”, “H. J.”, “A. S.” and “A. M.” were charged with drug offences in different parts of the Hormozgan Province, and according to the report, 7639 …